Animal or acronym

April 8, 2007 4:01 PM

Any comments/reviews from drivers on the new Canadian VW 2007 Rabbit and GTI? I am looking to purchase one or the other within the next 2 months.
posted by strangelove to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

well. since nobody's answering your question.

i'm a former gti owner and enthusiast. well-priced, energetic, and accomodating line of cars. your primary responsibility is to make sure you maintain the car's engine in good condition - regular oil changes, in particularly. VW's tend to be a little finnicky without proper care.

my input is a little dated here, but from what i remember, the GTI's solid competition is the WRX, an equally, if not, better built car. bmw also makes a hatchback, but it is worthless. i assume canadian hatchback availability is as limited as it is in the american market. we don't have citroens, alfas, renaults, opels, etc. readily available.

im not a big fan of the MK5's styling, but i'd say go for it.

some clips from youtube
posted by phaedon at 6:33 PM on April 8, 2007

There is a pretty active forum on VWs at VWVortex. They have sub forums dedicated to both the Rabbit and the GTI, and I see a thread on what people dislike about the new Rabbit.
posted by clarkie666 at 9:02 PM on April 8, 2007

The WRX appears to be superior to the VW in almost all respects, especially reliability. My brother is a former VW mechanic and advises people not to waste their time with VWs, unless you want a diesel.
posted by electroboy at 7:50 AM on April 9, 2007

My girlfriend and I bought a 2007 5-door GTI at the end of January - 17" wheels, cloth seats, no sunroof, the manual transmission. The only option we got was the rear side airbags. I'm loving the hell out of it, more and more so every day. Very solid balance of performance and economy, great handling without a really harsh ride, quiet and spacious inside, and a lot of nice standard features like great, heated, lumbar-adjustabe seats, a fabulous (tilt and telescoping) steering wheel, xenon headlights, traction and stability control etc. I also really like the styling, in and out. It's understated and grown-up, unlike a lot of competitors in this segment.

A mix of safety, comfort, performance and utility were the concerns for us, and it fits this fabulously. I was willing to take a gamble on the traditional VW reliability, while at the same time taking comfort in the fact that the Audi engine is used throughout their product line and is noted to be excellent. Furthermore, the car is now built in Germany and this might likely improve QA somewhat. It's a very important car for VW's image and I'd suspect more care went into designing it than average. Time will tell in this respect.

We did test drive the WRX as well, and while they have a reputation for reliability, there were a few things that we didn't like about it. The styling was a dealbraker for my g/f from the hood scoop point of view, its back seats had very little leg room, it is a lot worse on gas, and it's a lot more expensive. The interior was also not nearly as nice. I liked the performance and the AWD aspect, but it felt very raw and dated in comparison to the GTI. If I were thinking about the WRX I'd wait for the refresh in 2008, which is coming soon.

We also considered the Mazdaspeed 3, but again it seemed to be a little to biased towards performance over fuel economy. The GTI has all the performance I want and is more economical. We also didn't like the fact that the Mazda 3 is seemingly everywhere and figured the GTI would be a better long-term resale bet. The 'speed 3s have also been known for having engine mount issues, as in the engine falling out the bottom of the car. Not great.

I love the GTI. Couldn't be happier with the choice.
posted by jimmythefish at 11:53 AM on April 20, 2007